...all in the name of looking to join the ranks of the employed. However, as am not employed, am still doing the budget thing, and to cover the distances I need to I decided a little pushbike at 10,000 Laos kip per day (slightly over $1 US) was the way to do it. Especially making numerous trips to call on language schools, which could easily cost 10x that in the tuk tuks.
So there's me, all set to go, in one of my 3 non-khao-san-road outfits, topped off with a vietnamese rice farmer style hat (this has actually gotten laughs out loud from passing locals) paddling along with the strong sun beating down on me. I'm not sure if it were pure mirage or reality, but I swear a temperature board read over 40 degrees in the heat. Not so easy to look presentable. Today I had to nip into a supermarket for 20 minutes so as not to look as though I'd just done Olympic sprints.
Even less easy when some schools have no real address I can find..if I am lucky, I get a street name and go from there. Yesterday I reckon I rode the better part of the way to Thailand before realising I'd gone wrong, but in the end managed to find the school I was aiming for.
Good so, as I was called today for an interview which went well and may lead to my residing in Vientiane a while (yay!). I've had other positive responses, so now its time to wait and reap the fruits of my labour (ie, hunting down these places on foot and the pushbike in these temperatures..I like heat, but its even too much for me. Which must mean its hot hot hot!).
Tomorrow I go to the pool.
20 February, 2009
17 February, 2009
Andrea v. the Mosquito: attack and counter-attack
As much as I love being here, there is one small thing that bugs me.
All the bloody mozzies. Of course others like having me around. I am a sort of..michelin 5 star buffet for them, which means that they often go straight for my sweet blood rather than that of my...'mcdonald's' companions, as it were. I can really be sitting there bordering on looking as though I've broken out in a rare tropical skin disease from all the bites while whoever sits with me feels no pain - with or without the mozzie spray.
Now having been back in Bangkok a few days, where I suppose its survival of the fittest for mosquitos (or any living thing really) and also having been enclosed in a mozzie-free sealed enclave for 3 nights, I'd forgotten about the need for my mozzie spray.
And on the first night in Vientiane felt the brunt of that, full force. feet, legs, arms, even ears and face. FACE! and no warning at all, like that annoying sound in the ears. Thankfully due to my Thai tiger balm the face damage was minimal the next day, but these Laos mozzies are something else.
I saw it flying around the next night and tried to get it. Normally live and let live, but in this case its a matter of skin survival AND it DID attack first, so I went for it. Generally I can get them quite easily but this one has stealth, I'll give it that. I took it as a reminder to use the sketolene and managed some sleep for the time being.
This afternoon the bugger was taunting me once again. in the shower, buzzing around until finally landing on the mirror. Aha! I thought, going in for the kill with a plan to squish it on the mirror. Though forgetting that mirror was one of those adjustable ones, thereby letting mr. mozzie escape whilst flinging up enough to hit the shampoo on the shelf and set of a domino effect of creams and soap falling in the sink and on the floor in a catastrophic mess while it sailed high up into the ceilings, which are something akin to my old Vienna altbau flat (ie, very high and very challenging for the..vertically challenged).
So the mozzie lives another day. I will prevail in this though! hah!
All the bloody mozzies. Of course others like having me around. I am a sort of..michelin 5 star buffet for them, which means that they often go straight for my sweet blood rather than that of my...'mcdonald's' companions, as it were. I can really be sitting there bordering on looking as though I've broken out in a rare tropical skin disease from all the bites while whoever sits with me feels no pain - with or without the mozzie spray.
Now having been back in Bangkok a few days, where I suppose its survival of the fittest for mosquitos (or any living thing really) and also having been enclosed in a mozzie-free sealed enclave for 3 nights, I'd forgotten about the need for my mozzie spray.
And on the first night in Vientiane felt the brunt of that, full force. feet, legs, arms, even ears and face. FACE! and no warning at all, like that annoying sound in the ears. Thankfully due to my Thai tiger balm the face damage was minimal the next day, but these Laos mozzies are something else.
I saw it flying around the next night and tried to get it. Normally live and let live, but in this case its a matter of skin survival AND it DID attack first, so I went for it. Generally I can get them quite easily but this one has stealth, I'll give it that. I took it as a reminder to use the sketolene and managed some sleep for the time being.
This afternoon the bugger was taunting me once again. in the shower, buzzing around until finally landing on the mirror. Aha! I thought, going in for the kill with a plan to squish it on the mirror. Though forgetting that mirror was one of those adjustable ones, thereby letting mr. mozzie escape whilst flinging up enough to hit the shampoo on the shelf and set of a domino effect of creams and soap falling in the sink and on the floor in a catastrophic mess while it sailed high up into the ceilings, which are something akin to my old Vienna altbau flat (ie, very high and very challenging for the..vertically challenged).
So the mozzie lives another day. I will prevail in this though! hah!
15 February, 2009
Bound for the Border, baby! (First impressions of Vientiane, Laos)
After yet more haggling with the scam artist taxis in Bangkok (really, one day please build the MRT long enough to reach Khao san, or maybe i gotta stay elsewhere...), I finally boarded the train that would take me out of Thailand after one visa run, and already overstaying this visa by 2 days (that will be 1000 baht, thank you!). Oh well, that 1000 baht bought me an extra 2 days in paradise and money well spent.
On the train I was fortunate enough to meet Sarah, a well travelled half-Indian lass from London and if this were a preamble to my time in Laos, I would be well pleased with that. Parted with my overstay fee in Thailand, and substantially more to the Laos government for my visa...Again, like Turkey, I wonder what we Canadians did to them to make us have the most expensive visa of the bunch, but what can you do. $42 USD. ouch. so now anyone else out there you know you are cheaper than this for entry into Laos. ;-)
Thankfully following this Sarah and I took the cheapest transport option of a Tuk Tuk that contained a cheery driver, unlike some of the snarly Bangkok ones and this was a most fortunate decision as along the way we collected Tony. Tony is half Spanish, half Phillipine so a wee laugh over all us half Asians and he was a godsend. not only telling us what the maximum we should pay for transport in Vientiane was, but actually showing us personally where to find accom, and even offering his place should we be unsuccessful. He also works here as a teacher in the international school (cha-ching) and gave me a few names of schools and thankfully his email, so its been a pretty positive vibe thus far.
Sarah and I grabbed our first real food in what felt like ages, and bless her, she watched my mammoth luggage over a beer as I searched high and low for decent cheap accom - I was being picky about it all as this is the place I could be staying in for quite some time while I conduct my job hunt. Thankfully it is rather compact here centred around Nam Phu, although certainly not with the variety of khao san (but also not with the khao san crowds). As its high season I was mostly out of luck and on my way back to the cheapest available ghetto room I could find when a non-descript guesthouse caught my eye. Why? I looked up. Always look up...had nice balconies so I enquired - as soon as I was handed the key to view room '1' I smiled as I knew I'd hooked a winner; what I am getting in return for 100, 000 Laos kip (about $11 USD, cheaper than the aforementioned cheapie) is a massive room with larger than king size bed, fan, AC, hot water shower, TV, wardrobe and balcony big enough to hold 7 people at least. Not to mention great central location. Its called MOIC, and only a block from the Nam Phu fountain.
Yup, the sun is shining on me once again..literally, and figuratively! And now a different breed of sunset awaits...yup, time to try a beer Laos with my nice company over the Mekong river. something tells me I'm gonna be sticking around a while...
On the train I was fortunate enough to meet Sarah, a well travelled half-Indian lass from London and if this were a preamble to my time in Laos, I would be well pleased with that. Parted with my overstay fee in Thailand, and substantially more to the Laos government for my visa...Again, like Turkey, I wonder what we Canadians did to them to make us have the most expensive visa of the bunch, but what can you do. $42 USD. ouch. so now anyone else out there you know you are cheaper than this for entry into Laos. ;-)
Thankfully following this Sarah and I took the cheapest transport option of a Tuk Tuk that contained a cheery driver, unlike some of the snarly Bangkok ones and this was a most fortunate decision as along the way we collected Tony. Tony is half Spanish, half Phillipine so a wee laugh over all us half Asians and he was a godsend. not only telling us what the maximum we should pay for transport in Vientiane was, but actually showing us personally where to find accom, and even offering his place should we be unsuccessful. He also works here as a teacher in the international school (cha-ching) and gave me a few names of schools and thankfully his email, so its been a pretty positive vibe thus far.
Sarah and I grabbed our first real food in what felt like ages, and bless her, she watched my mammoth luggage over a beer as I searched high and low for decent cheap accom - I was being picky about it all as this is the place I could be staying in for quite some time while I conduct my job hunt. Thankfully it is rather compact here centred around Nam Phu, although certainly not with the variety of khao san (but also not with the khao san crowds). As its high season I was mostly out of luck and on my way back to the cheapest available ghetto room I could find when a non-descript guesthouse caught my eye. Why? I looked up. Always look up...had nice balconies so I enquired - as soon as I was handed the key to view room '1' I smiled as I knew I'd hooked a winner; what I am getting in return for 100, 000 Laos kip (about $11 USD, cheaper than the aforementioned cheapie) is a massive room with larger than king size bed, fan, AC, hot water shower, TV, wardrobe and balcony big enough to hold 7 people at least. Not to mention great central location. Its called MOIC, and only a block from the Nam Phu fountain.
Yup, the sun is shining on me once again..literally, and figuratively! And now a different breed of sunset awaits...yup, time to try a beer Laos with my nice company over the Mekong river. something tells me I'm gonna be sticking around a while...
Beer. It's Not Just For Breakfast.
10:30 am, 11 February 2009. Mainland ferry port, Trat province, Thailand.
Tim and I having sorted out our respective transport on to Pattaya and Bangkok, took a seat facing the sea, wishing we were back at the perfect beach that we had just left behind - both for different reasons, and well some of the same I suppose.
'want something to drink?', Tim asked, motioning to the nearby shop.
'Fuck it, get me a Singha'.
Tim's eyebrows shot up in surprise, and the response included something involving fear, but he obliged, and joined me in that drink. the reason for said reaction was that I was largely dry and avoiding alcohol during our time on the beach, being drawn more to beverages of the fruity tropical variety.
Nonetheless, we toasted our sorrow, all the while laughing at the hour in which we were drinking. Having downed my small singha faster than Tim (which added to the fear factor) I used his line of the week 'one for the road?', then went to leave my luggage on my bus, him with 4 beer bottles looking to be somewhat of an alcoholic.
The beers did help, as after dashing after my bus I managed to pass out most of the way on it, but still being afflicted with the dry mouth as though I'd been out the night before. Meeting Andy, an American found at lonely beach, I got a laugh out of him asking had I been out drinking the night before, and I said, no, this morning at the ferry port! With reason. However this conversation was cut short when I noticed our bus pulling away from the curb and found myself once again chasing after it, propelled by a strong wish NOT to be stranded in Chonburi (I really must break this bus chasing pattern though).
Arrival in Bangkok was overwhelming after being locked off in paradise for all that time. I felt paralysed when trying to cross streets I'd learned to careen myself through with ease, and found myself staring wide-eyed at the immense variety of food options and viable ways to spend my money. Starting with checking into the Rikka Inn..I was going to ease this painful transition as much as possible by allowing myself to enjoy that roof pool. Unfortunately they only had doubles for 800 baht left, but considering i'd come in WELL under budget in Koh Chang, I thought sod it, you only live once. Was also a little too overjoyed at the prospect of my own toilet and a shower that produced more than dribble, but when you've hair mounted on your head as I do, these things can make all the difference. Popped in to see Toom to sort out my ticket onward out of Thailand (finally) and made the culture shock worse for myself by heading out to Mahboonkrong and Siam Square to buy the iPod paraphernalia which had gone missing in Koh Chang. The taxi ride was entertaining enough, never mind a German guy on a neighboring motorbike taxi, in cahoots with his driver, were attempting to get me to jump ship on my tuk tuk and join him.
Tim arrived the next day at Rikka whilst I sat poolside and checked himself in and that night we hit the buckets. It was more of the same from the massage party with me countering the Hill tribe sellers offers with my own offer of a thai massage (though fair enough, without my certificate there its easy to thikn i'm some crazy falang charlatan) but a few takers that left me with more souvenir bracelets. Was also doing some marketing for the cocktail place by holding out the 'very strong!' cocktails and bucket signs, which unfortunately for me the next day, are definitely NOT false advertising!!!!!! All in all another cracking night, even if I suffered dearly the next day....
Tim and I having sorted out our respective transport on to Pattaya and Bangkok, took a seat facing the sea, wishing we were back at the perfect beach that we had just left behind - both for different reasons, and well some of the same I suppose.
'want something to drink?', Tim asked, motioning to the nearby shop.
'Fuck it, get me a Singha'.
Tim's eyebrows shot up in surprise, and the response included something involving fear, but he obliged, and joined me in that drink. the reason for said reaction was that I was largely dry and avoiding alcohol during our time on the beach, being drawn more to beverages of the fruity tropical variety.
Nonetheless, we toasted our sorrow, all the while laughing at the hour in which we were drinking. Having downed my small singha faster than Tim (which added to the fear factor) I used his line of the week 'one for the road?', then went to leave my luggage on my bus, him with 4 beer bottles looking to be somewhat of an alcoholic.
The beers did help, as after dashing after my bus I managed to pass out most of the way on it, but still being afflicted with the dry mouth as though I'd been out the night before. Meeting Andy, an American found at lonely beach, I got a laugh out of him asking had I been out drinking the night before, and I said, no, this morning at the ferry port! With reason. However this conversation was cut short when I noticed our bus pulling away from the curb and found myself once again chasing after it, propelled by a strong wish NOT to be stranded in Chonburi (I really must break this bus chasing pattern though).
Arrival in Bangkok was overwhelming after being locked off in paradise for all that time. I felt paralysed when trying to cross streets I'd learned to careen myself through with ease, and found myself staring wide-eyed at the immense variety of food options and viable ways to spend my money. Starting with checking into the Rikka Inn..I was going to ease this painful transition as much as possible by allowing myself to enjoy that roof pool. Unfortunately they only had doubles for 800 baht left, but considering i'd come in WELL under budget in Koh Chang, I thought sod it, you only live once. Was also a little too overjoyed at the prospect of my own toilet and a shower that produced more than dribble, but when you've hair mounted on your head as I do, these things can make all the difference. Popped in to see Toom to sort out my ticket onward out of Thailand (finally) and made the culture shock worse for myself by heading out to Mahboonkrong and Siam Square to buy the iPod paraphernalia which had gone missing in Koh Chang. The taxi ride was entertaining enough, never mind a German guy on a neighboring motorbike taxi, in cahoots with his driver, were attempting to get me to jump ship on my tuk tuk and join him.
Tim arrived the next day at Rikka whilst I sat poolside and checked himself in and that night we hit the buckets. It was more of the same from the massage party with me countering the Hill tribe sellers offers with my own offer of a thai massage (though fair enough, without my certificate there its easy to thikn i'm some crazy falang charlatan) but a few takers that left me with more souvenir bracelets. Was also doing some marketing for the cocktail place by holding out the 'very strong!' cocktails and bucket signs, which unfortunately for me the next day, are definitely NOT false advertising!!!!!! All in all another cracking night, even if I suffered dearly the next day....
Paradise, Pure and Simple!
For Malin and I, sunset sessions became synonymous with Treehouse at Lonely Beach, for their rickety wooden terrace which jutted out over the sea, and included lounge chairs, funky lights and a nice chilled out atmosphere.
It was here that their poster for a second location on Long Beach caught my eye, as I thought this may be the place I'm looking for - FINALLY the possibility I could fall asleep and not have bass pounding all night. Places that unfortunately seem to be fewer and further between in Thailand. plus at 200 - 300 baht a night, the price was right. Malin was set to leave in 2 days time from the day I'd made this discovery and thus thought I would time it with her departure as I felt a bit ready to move on, though not yet ready for Bangkok and the reality of job hunting in Vientiane, but also it would have been slightly strange...lonely even (bad pun, yarr) to stay at lonely beach when Malin left. Even though Marco of massage course fame had rocked up in his Italian style..I get an sms saying he is thikning of coming to koh chang, the next day a call to say he is on Lonely beach.
and inevitably, sat in our usual spot each night we were always chatted up by randoms. ok, random men. Kept life interesting, and this particular night's taker was a newly arrived Dutch lad Marnix also in search of no bass, so it seemed I might have company over on Long Beach.
It also seemed a good place to recover from my new set of ailments (skin infection and a cold. who gets a cold in THAILAND?)..I tell you at this stage I was a walking Thai pharmacy and could probably do a guidebook about Thai clinics! I liked nature beach - we had a fair deal, Malin and I with a hut for 400 set in a nice tropical garden. ours was the cheapest of the lot. I was in a way glad to leave as 'Soda', one of the local workers, had taken to Malin, and was slightly creepy - and with Malin gone, well...I was glad to be as well. He asked here I was going, i said long beach 'no people go there!'. GOOD!!!
Anyway, of course the treehouse I had a taxi to treehouse II, leaving at 10am (or thereabouts) and making the reverse trip at 8 am (or thereabouts). oh so convenient travelling in Thailand. even if it did have to go round the better part of the island to get there. I didn't time exactly but estimate about 2 hours or so, including the shopping stops - I recommend taking advantage of these if heading out to Long Beach for any period of time as there really is not a lot out there.
Which, was grand. One night was spent at Treehouse, after which was discovered a small set of huts owned by a small French guy - official name is 'Zion' but over at Treehouse its called 'the French Connection', who had beachfront huts for 300 - 400 baht, which were much nicer than Treehouse. Number 1 is the best one, straight on the beach, at the end. distinguished by having the only covered shower of the lot, haha. They offer a lot more privacy and peace, but the atmosphere can be a bit antisocial and couply. Granted Treehouse is still there for your social interaction and it seemed at that time to be a relatively good crowd - As such along the way another dutchie joined the group (Tim) and he soon made his way down to the French Connection as well, and yup, this was it. This was the Thailand I once knew.
Oh, and one very exciting note: Tim was my first paying massage customer! Well, the first one I actually did ALL the steps on and he thought worthy of a 100 baht donation! yay!!!!! Also having regular correspondence with Tim to this day leads me to believe he is alive and well and survived his first Thai massage. given by a Canadian. Albeit, a Wat Po certified one! :-)
Of course, its not for everybody; if you are looking for the party with bass, pass on by. Electricity at the treehouse runs only from 6pm until 1 am, and at the french connection it shuts off even earlier. the accomodation is simple little beach huts - at Treehouse the common showers are actually a large basin of water with the little scoop, and at french connection, there is a severe lack of water pressure...so if you've a large crop of Japanese hair as I do, remember to practice patience. or at least try to ;-). the toilets there are also thai style. There is very limited reception, if any, on mobile phones and until recently, no internet although I believe Treehouse is giong to change that (of course only at night though!)
but it is peaceful and uncrowded and beautiful. enough so to make me overstay my visa and just be lost in paradise. We also took a wander 300 m to the end of the road where sat a simple restaurant who hired out kayaks, which we then took to another small island - currently a tad deserted but of course a resort is going to open there in March. nonetheless we enjoyed having the beach to ourselves, and Tim and I had a right blast blasting out tunes of all sorts (never a full song though!) while rowing away. the kayaks cost 300 baht for the day and are built for 2 people..we would haev liked a tri-yak but such upmarket things are only available on lonely beach it seems!
However, reality called, and I timed it that I left with Tim en route to Bangkok - I think its a good thing that we did this so we had the support group otherwise I reckon we might still be out there..me going further into debt, Tim missing his flight and a year later something out of Robinson Crusoe!
I love being in Laos but think often of this little paradise, and Tim and I had a little nostalgia whilst partying in Bangkok to drown our sorrows after! Too bad also that Malin missed out on that bit owing to her flight back home. All the cool people always leave too soon!
It was here that their poster for a second location on Long Beach caught my eye, as I thought this may be the place I'm looking for - FINALLY the possibility I could fall asleep and not have bass pounding all night. Places that unfortunately seem to be fewer and further between in Thailand. plus at 200 - 300 baht a night, the price was right. Malin was set to leave in 2 days time from the day I'd made this discovery and thus thought I would time it with her departure as I felt a bit ready to move on, though not yet ready for Bangkok and the reality of job hunting in Vientiane, but also it would have been slightly strange...lonely even (bad pun, yarr) to stay at lonely beach when Malin left. Even though Marco of massage course fame had rocked up in his Italian style..I get an sms saying he is thikning of coming to koh chang, the next day a call to say he is on Lonely beach.
and inevitably, sat in our usual spot each night we were always chatted up by randoms. ok, random men. Kept life interesting, and this particular night's taker was a newly arrived Dutch lad Marnix also in search of no bass, so it seemed I might have company over on Long Beach.
It also seemed a good place to recover from my new set of ailments (skin infection and a cold. who gets a cold in THAILAND?)..I tell you at this stage I was a walking Thai pharmacy and could probably do a guidebook about Thai clinics! I liked nature beach - we had a fair deal, Malin and I with a hut for 400 set in a nice tropical garden. ours was the cheapest of the lot. I was in a way glad to leave as 'Soda', one of the local workers, had taken to Malin, and was slightly creepy - and with Malin gone, well...I was glad to be as well. He asked here I was going, i said long beach 'no people go there!'. GOOD!!!
Anyway, of course the treehouse I had a taxi to treehouse II, leaving at 10am (or thereabouts) and making the reverse trip at 8 am (or thereabouts). oh so convenient travelling in Thailand. even if it did have to go round the better part of the island to get there. I didn't time exactly but estimate about 2 hours or so, including the shopping stops - I recommend taking advantage of these if heading out to Long Beach for any period of time as there really is not a lot out there.
Which, was grand. One night was spent at Treehouse, after which was discovered a small set of huts owned by a small French guy - official name is 'Zion' but over at Treehouse its called 'the French Connection', who had beachfront huts for 300 - 400 baht, which were much nicer than Treehouse. Number 1 is the best one, straight on the beach, at the end. distinguished by having the only covered shower of the lot, haha. They offer a lot more privacy and peace, but the atmosphere can be a bit antisocial and couply. Granted Treehouse is still there for your social interaction and it seemed at that time to be a relatively good crowd - As such along the way another dutchie joined the group (Tim) and he soon made his way down to the French Connection as well, and yup, this was it. This was the Thailand I once knew.
Oh, and one very exciting note: Tim was my first paying massage customer! Well, the first one I actually did ALL the steps on and he thought worthy of a 100 baht donation! yay!!!!! Also having regular correspondence with Tim to this day leads me to believe he is alive and well and survived his first Thai massage. given by a Canadian. Albeit, a Wat Po certified one! :-)
Of course, its not for everybody; if you are looking for the party with bass, pass on by. Electricity at the treehouse runs only from 6pm until 1 am, and at the french connection it shuts off even earlier. the accomodation is simple little beach huts - at Treehouse the common showers are actually a large basin of water with the little scoop, and at french connection, there is a severe lack of water pressure...so if you've a large crop of Japanese hair as I do, remember to practice patience. or at least try to ;-). the toilets there are also thai style. There is very limited reception, if any, on mobile phones and until recently, no internet although I believe Treehouse is giong to change that (of course only at night though!)
but it is peaceful and uncrowded and beautiful. enough so to make me overstay my visa and just be lost in paradise. We also took a wander 300 m to the end of the road where sat a simple restaurant who hired out kayaks, which we then took to another small island - currently a tad deserted but of course a resort is going to open there in March. nonetheless we enjoyed having the beach to ourselves, and Tim and I had a right blast blasting out tunes of all sorts (never a full song though!) while rowing away. the kayaks cost 300 baht for the day and are built for 2 people..we would haev liked a tri-yak but such upmarket things are only available on lonely beach it seems!
However, reality called, and I timed it that I left with Tim en route to Bangkok - I think its a good thing that we did this so we had the support group otherwise I reckon we might still be out there..me going further into debt, Tim missing his flight and a year later something out of Robinson Crusoe!
I love being in Laos but think often of this little paradise, and Tim and I had a little nostalgia whilst partying in Bangkok to drown our sorrows after! Too bad also that Malin missed out on that bit owing to her flight back home. All the cool people always leave too soon!
02 February, 2009
Chai Yen Yen, Chai Yen Yen..
aka, taking it easy!
something hard NOT to do on the island of Koh Chang! So after a couple days to recuperate from the graduation party, and Malin's overnight bus from Khao Lak we headed out at some ungodly hour of the day on separate buses as I would be doing the visa run to Cambodia to re-fuel my time in Thailand (ie, a money making scheme for the Thai government, and well, the Cambodian one).
Fortunately for me I met some pretty cool people - first a girl from Calgary who was, well SO not a girl from Calgary and quite a lot like myself and we exchanged stories at warp speed with tons of laughs. secondly was a visa run veteran from Singapore who has been waiting on a work permit in Bangkok for some months and knew the routine very well so I just tagged along with him. After we paid the Cambodian cops a sort of bribe to run our passports in (while one cop sat there talking to me, smiling, 'cambodian police take care you!'), and out of Cambodia it was all smooth sailing off to Ko Chang, where Malin had a room waiting for me. Had a lovely evening eating dinner overhanging the sea, before moving on to a beach bar with a fire show and shisha! For those in need of doing a visa run, the Cambodian visa costs 1200 baht, and the police bribe was 500. If you are closer to it, one might be better off going to Laos, where you need just spend one hour rather than 500 baht. Depends whether you've more time or money I suppose ;-)
***note added 25.02.2009 - I was misinformed - if doing this visa run, just ignore them and go straight on out and back in. this came from an English guy with 8 years in Bangkok behind him who knows the system, well, much better it seems. and that was what i was originally going to do. Guess like with anything, 1, live and learn, and 2, people who seem well sussed aren't always - thankfully I've only done it once, unlike that guy who must be paying the pensions of the dodgy Cambodian Police. again, DO NOT pay them any money just do it yourself. From now on I'll trust my own instincts more***
Next day we moved on to Lonely beach for a bit more peace and here I have remained, back to starting my day with yoga or swimming in the sea, breakfast on the beach and just relaxing, taking life at a slow pace and meeting some more interesting people. Perhaps its due to the name, but we've seen the highest concentration of solo travellers here. Creates a good vibe...speaking of which, the sunset once again awaits!
something hard NOT to do on the island of Koh Chang! So after a couple days to recuperate from the graduation party, and Malin's overnight bus from Khao Lak we headed out at some ungodly hour of the day on separate buses as I would be doing the visa run to Cambodia to re-fuel my time in Thailand (ie, a money making scheme for the Thai government, and well, the Cambodian one).
Fortunately for me I met some pretty cool people - first a girl from Calgary who was, well SO not a girl from Calgary and quite a lot like myself and we exchanged stories at warp speed with tons of laughs. secondly was a visa run veteran from Singapore who has been waiting on a work permit in Bangkok for some months and knew the routine very well so I just tagged along with him. After we paid the Cambodian cops a sort of bribe to run our passports in (while one cop sat there talking to me, smiling, 'cambodian police take care you!'), and out of Cambodia it was all smooth sailing off to Ko Chang, where Malin had a room waiting for me. Had a lovely evening eating dinner overhanging the sea, before moving on to a beach bar with a fire show and shisha! For those in need of doing a visa run, the Cambodian visa costs 1200 baht, and the police bribe was 500. If you are closer to it, one might be better off going to Laos, where you need just spend one hour rather than 500 baht. Depends whether you've more time or money I suppose ;-)
***note added 25.02.2009 - I was misinformed - if doing this visa run, just ignore them and go straight on out and back in. this came from an English guy with 8 years in Bangkok behind him who knows the system, well, much better it seems. and that was what i was originally going to do. Guess like with anything, 1, live and learn, and 2, people who seem well sussed aren't always - thankfully I've only done it once, unlike that guy who must be paying the pensions of the dodgy Cambodian Police. again, DO NOT pay them any money just do it yourself. From now on I'll trust my own instincts more***
Next day we moved on to Lonely beach for a bit more peace and here I have remained, back to starting my day with yoga or swimming in the sea, breakfast on the beach and just relaxing, taking life at a slow pace and meeting some more interesting people. Perhaps its due to the name, but we've seen the highest concentration of solo travellers here. Creates a good vibe...speaking of which, the sunset once again awaits!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)